Video
Mumbai Meri Jaan
Namaste from India, and welcome to my Fulbright mtvU-blog! For the next 9 months, I will live in Mumbai and use this site to post videos, soundbites, photos, interviews, and updates on my project exploring Bollywood culture and its impacts and influences on underprivileged youth in Mumbai. As part of my project, I aim to coordinate with entertainment professionals at Rohit Roy Productions and the youth of the Akanksha Foundation to develop the theatre and drama program of the foundation and to create a Bollywood performance by the youth. My ultimate goal is to produce a documentary of the children’s journey, which will be screened at a fundraising gala that marks the 20th anniversary of the Akanksha foundation’s efforts.
France goes to Hip-Hop International World Championship + Interview with Vicelow
At the end of July, France will be represented for the first time at the Hip-Hop International World Championship in Las Vegas. The three French dance crews to go to the U.S. (categorized by age group: Junior (7-12) Varsity (12-18) and Adult (18+)) were selected at the Hip-Hop International France Championship held at the Casino de Paris this past May. Despite being the first year for the French tournament, all of the competing crews were really strong and the event was a huge success thanks to passionate dancers, a great audience and a lot of hard work put in by the HHIF organizers Jean Pierre Chandler and Sabrina Bouhanik. During the competition, I interviewed J.P. and Sabrina backstage about the challenges of putting together the event and what lessons and opportunities HHIF has to offer young people in France. You can check out a portion of our interview above.
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Video Interview with Nikkfurie of La Caution
Back in April, I interviewed rap artist Nikkfurie (aka Ahmed Mazouz) of the French hip-hop/electro group La Caution. While many Americans might not be familiar with the group’s name, millions have heard the instrumental version of La Caution’s song “Thé à la Menthe” or “Mint Tea” when it was featured in the movie Ocean’s 12. (Think back to the scene with Vincent Cassel’s laser dance.)
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Sanuya
“Sanuya”, written and performed by Modibo “Bastin” Diabate featuring Mah Bara Soumano and Konté B, arranged by Lamine Soumano, produced by Studio Mali, and filmed by Spencer Orey.
“Sanuya” is a song about about cleaning up the trash in Bamako that draws attention to trash and pollution in the city. It’s mostly in Bambara with some French, and it’s around six minutes long. Usually in Bamako I do my best to see through the pollution into the underlying beauty of the city, and trust me, there is a lot there that is beautiful. However, this time, I got to focus directly on trash and make things into a giant chaotic trash party, shooting all but one scene without my tripod while riding around on motorcycles with a big group of rappers in the Bamako neighborhood of Djicoroni Para. Unfortunately, it’s the hot season right now, so it’s nearly 115 degrees F every day, and the light is always incredibly strong, making filming especially difficult. However, with help, we found some dirty places to film: trash piles, burning trash piles, open sewers, meat markets, and more.
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Video Interview with AP from 113
While at a taping for Glory Time TV, the hip-hop talk show hosted by our friends in the group Blackara, I met French rap artist AP who kindly agreed to do an interview for my project. Currently promoting his first solo Album, Discret, AP originally started his career in the nineties as a member of the successful French rap group 113, and he is also a part of the rap collective Mafia K’1 Fry (K’1fry or “Cainfri” is verlan slang for “African”). Above, you can watch an excerpt from our interview.
Although 113’s talent has been celebrated with two Victoire de la Musique awards (similar to the American Grammys) and a gold album, the group also gained notoriety in 2005 when they, along with several other groups, were accused by over 200 members of the French government for fueling young rioters with incendiary lyrics. (To date, however, French government officials haven’t won any of the numerous lawsuits filed against rap artists.) While I won’t go into depth about why these accusations were misdirected, there are two really interesting points about this case, which have been reinforced by my conversations with AP and with others throughout my research.
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